Suspected Militants Kill 8 in Kashmir

Gunmen in Army Uniforms Attack Police Station and Army Camp

At least eight people were killed Thursday by suspected militants who disguised themselves as Indian soldiers and attacked a police station and an army camp in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The attack came just days before Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

"Given our history and the timing of these attacks, it is clear that the aim of the terrorists is to derail the proposed dialogue between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan," Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of the state, said at a news conference. "These are forces that want to keep the ongoing turmoil in the state alive."

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Indian soldiers gathered behind a small wall Thursday during an attack by militants on an army camp at Mesar in Jammu and Kashmir state. Suspected separatist rebels attacked the camp after storming into a police station where they shot and killed four police and one civilian.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The Himalayan territory of Kashmir has long been a cause of dispute between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 over it. Both countries rule parts of it but claim it in its entirety.

India has long faced an insurgency in Kashmir where different militant groups have been fighting for separation from India. During the fiercest years of fighting in the 1990s, New Delhi accused Pakistan of training and financing thousands of militants to infiltrate Indian-held Kashmir. Pakistan denies the allegations.

While violence in the region has dropped considerably in recent years, thanks in part to a 2003 cease-fire agreement between India and Pakistan, tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors have been rising this year on the back of deadly border skirmishes between the armed forces of the two countries.

In India, the alleged beheading of an Indian soldier in January close to the Pakistan border stalled peace talks, and the killings of five Indian soldiers patrolling the border last month prevented plans to restart the discussions. India has in recent months reiterated long-held demands that Islamabad stop militants from training in Pakistan and launching attacks on India. Pakistan says it too has suffered terrorist violence and doesn't shelter militants.

On Thursday, three men dressed in army uniforms attacked a police station, killing four police and one civilian. The attackers then hijacked a truck, killed one person in the truck and drove to a nearby army camp, said Ashok Prasad, the top police officer for the state. Using a back door to enter the camp's cafeteria, the heavily armed men then exchanged fire with Indian troops, killing at least two soldiers. The suspected militants were killed in an operation that lasted several hours.

"We are now working to rule out similar plans by other militants," Mr. Prasad said.

Mr. Sharif, who took office in June, has said he wants to open a new chapter in his country's ties with India. New Delhi, however, is still concerned about the influence of Pakistan's army on Islamabad's foreign policy. India is waiting to see how Mr. Sharif's relationship with the military evolves. The meeting in New York this weekend may hold some clues, analysts in New Delhi said.

"It might show us what the prospects for peace with Pakistan are under Nawaz Sharif," said Radha Kumar, director-general of the Delhi Policy Group, which was appointed by the Indian government in 2010 to help draw a road map for peace in Jammu and Kashmir. "I don't expect to see any concrete steps, but there is an expectation that he will at least make some commitments."

Mr. Singh is also grappling with domestic politics, analysts say. On Thursday, he said the attack "will not succeed in derailing our efforts to find a resolution to all problems through a process of dialogue." But elections in India are due by the end of May and opposition parties who have called for a boycott of all talks with Pakistan will criticize the Indian prime minister if he is seen as being soft on Pakistan.

"Kashmir and Pakistan are emotive issues in India," said Sushant Sareen, a consultant at New Delhi's Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses. "Manmohan Singh doesn't have the political capital or the time to take any bold steps and nothing on the ground will change."

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